Boeing names aerospace veteran Kelly Ortberg CEO to steer turnaround - eviltoast
  • New CEO will have to rebuild trust, reputation
    • Company posts another quarterly loss as it burns cash
    • Defense and space business adds to Q2 losses

July 31 (Reuters) - Boeing on Wednesday named aerospace industry veteran Kelly Ortberg as its new President and CEO after a months-long search, tasking the former Rockwell Collins executive with the monumental job of turning around the struggling planemaker.

Ortberg, 64, will start on Aug. 8 and face a multitude of issues, including reviving jet production and rebuilding trust with regulators, the industry and the flying public. Shares rose 2.9% before the bell.

Boeing, one of two global planemakers, has been mired in a reputational and safety crisis after a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines-operated MAX 9 jet carrying 171 passengers. It posted a $1.4 billion loss in the second quarter as it continues to burn cash.